A problem with my Beogram 7000

I am a lucky owner of a beautiful Beogram 7000 Record deck with a MMC2. It bought it in late January or the beginning of February this year, and it has been a delight.

But about 2 weeks ago it begun to distord the sound, when it has been playing for an a hour or so. And it seems that it's getting worse. Now it begins to distord after only a couple of songs!?

I have tried the different options on the arm, but it doesn't make a difference. Eventually the distorsion returns. The stylus doesn't seem to be centered, but a little to the right. Can this cause the distorsion? Tried to take a picture of it. Sorry for the poor quality.

Does any of who have any idea to my problem? Could it be the stylus or does it sound more like something inside the Record deck?

Re: A problem with my Beogram 7000

It's the cartridge. Sooner or later all those all those old MMC carts go bad. The suspension that allows the cantilever to move/vibrate is rubber, which dries out with time. You might be able to give your MMC-2 a bit more life by increasing the tracking force a little. Replacement cartridges can be purchased from Soundsmith. They could also rebuild your MMC-2 for $295.

Re: A problem with my Beogram 7000

Do both! (i.e don't ever throw that broken MMC2 away! You'll be getting another Beogram sooner or later anyway )

If all you want to do is listen to some records, the SMMC4 will be more than adequate. I have one and IMHO it is clearly better than an original MMC4, probably beats MMC3 as well. I also had my MMC2 repaired by Axel with a basic elliptical stylus, and it sounds just fine to me as well. Both of these solutions are good value for money, but I believe higher specs would be wasted with my ears...

Re: A problem with my Beogram 7000

I've recently bought a new old stock MMC20CL cartridge. It was corroded! I've now got a nice screwdriver, a nice brush, nice scales, a nice cartridge adapter and a nice frequency curve all in a nice acrylic box!

Re: A problem with my Beogram 7000

Well at least that was a sensible price for trying... I've seen these "NOS" cartridges selling for absolutely silly money, and all of them are probably shot, or will quickly be once you start using them.

I got lucky once with a 25€ MMC20EN, it's still giving great service in my Beogram 6000. It'll be going to Axel as well if/when it lets go - I have a few working 20S's as well, but the black shell doesn't look so nice.